The Piano (1993)
It is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada is a mute who has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand's South Island is not all she may have imagined and nor is her relationship with her new husband Stewart. She suffers torment and loss when Stewart sells her piano to a neighbour, George... (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Jane Campion
Written By: Jane Campion
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Holly Hunter, Anna Paquin, Cliff Curtis, Rose McIver, Geneviève Lemon, Kerry Walker
Country: Australia, France, New Zealand
Where to Stream
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The Piano belongs to 95 collections
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Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 4 |  |
djross | 50 43rd |
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Romantic or erotic fantasy for women, in which the protagonist has a child without having to share her with a father, has a husband without needing to engage in any physical contact (and without needing to feel guilty about cheating or leaving), and has a lover without needing to speak (she gives way to his desire: after all, in fantasy it is mainly the others who speak). Still, a little clunky and awkward, and the likeable Neill was perhaps miscast. Nice cinematography and great score by Nyman.
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| 3 |  |
Ytadel | 6 70th |
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Beautifully made if a little depressing and slow. Holly Hunter is super naked!
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| 3 |  |
Stain | 100 95th |
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Beautiful. A movie all about what it's like to have absolutely, positively no desire to fit in anywhere at all
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| 3 |  |
frederic_g54 | 8 77th |
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You can close your eyes and still enjoy this film.
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| 2 |  |
CCLZA | 85 89th |
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Beautiful film about a woman and her choices in life. The cinematography and art direction are a total delight, and so is Hunter in the performance of her life.
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| 2 |  |
muutanet | 86 92nd |
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Beautiful film about molesting wife. Sam Neil cannot give for Holly Hunter what Harvey Keitel can. Allegoria for foreplay, how to win a woman's heart.
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| 2 |  |
BillyShears | 70 53rd |
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Harvey Keitel dick shot vanity project.
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| 2 |  |
AndreasThau | 75 68th |
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Sam Neill, Keitel and Hunter just act their nineteenth century socks off. Mix that with stunning cinematography/choice of scenery and Michael Nyman's unforgettable theme (which should be THE must-have-note #1 for every piano padawan) and you have a good film. I was a bit confused at the end, felt it hid too much information, making it quite hard to grasp. Still, I loved the way Campion let the characters develop mainly through acting, almost 'embodied' in the main character, the mute. Brilliant.
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| 2 |  |
eCitizen | 40 32nd |
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Shockingly incomplete story or possibly told extremely poorly. A few excellent performances, but Holly Hunter was uncharacteristically vacant and not very expressive as a mute. A story that is mostly uninteresting with not much to say. The husband (Neill) was especially unconvincing being both too understanding and too rash. Harvey Keitel's character was mostly without morals but still held up as being genuine. So much opportunity to make something great, but instead it is mostly not.
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| 1 |  |
MartinTeller | 82 73rd |
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I wouldn't call it one of the greatest of all time, but it was very good. I liked the ending especially.
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| 1 | UKSubs | 24 19th |
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Slow...also, can any sane person make sense of Harvey Keitel's career?
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| 1 |  |
lrampartl | 31 10th |
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The movie itself was bad enough, did I really have to see Harvey Keitel naked? Ugh.
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| 1 |  |
TheDiceman | 75 89th |
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Fantastic.
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| 1 |  |
easydiff | 60 60th |
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Incredibly "art housey"
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| 1 |  |
Booster | 45 25th |
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Awfully full of itself.
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| 1 |  |
turin | 55 31st |
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A feminist film, too boring for me too watch - and I am not one to say no to a decent chick-flick from time to time.
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| 1 |  |
martryn | 85 86th |
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Masturbated to Holly Hunter in this one. Felt good.
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| 1 |  |
prowler | 38 33rd |
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so did dudes really shave their butts back then?
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| 1 | PourMySoul | 99 50th |
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A beautiful film about love, passion, and desire told through the eyes of Ada, a young mute Scotwoman (a ferocious, yearning, captivating turn by Hunter) married away to New Zealand, along with her beloved piano. Jane Campion stakes her claim as one the great directors while Nyman not only gives us one of the most beautiful scores of all-time, but enables us to, through the music, enter into Ada's repressed, silent passion filled world. Certainly one of the best films of the 1990's.
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| 1 |  |
haydn | 90 94th |
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Intense but amazingly deep. Will watch again. I have new respect for Holly Hunfter as an actress after watching this.
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| 1 |  |
Jeb | 72 53rd |
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Top-notch acting and the script is wonderful, but it seems to drag on at times. Still worth a watch!
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| 1 |  |
eric-jan | 75 74th |
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NEVER, I REPEAT, NEVER CUT OFF THE FINGERS OF A PIANIST. WORLDCLASS SHAME on the director. Good movie next to that. Catchy music.
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| 1 |  |
CosmicMonkey | 85 86th |
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After watching Hunter's performance I'm almost convinced that Hollywood needs to see a return to silent films. Hunter's mute character is able to express a level of raw emotion and power that is unrivalled in modern cinema with a subtelty that is nearly impossible to achieve through conventional dialouge. If nothing else, watch The Piano for one of the most beautiful, deep, and emotional performances ever captured onto film.
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| 1 |  |
wetwillies | 80 37th |
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Viewed March 15, 2020.
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| 1 |  |
Syntheseizur | 73 35th |
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While it's worse for engaging in the many cliches of the stale period romances of the '80s and '90s, the power of the film stems from the strength of its feminine perspective and its central metaphors: the piano as Ada's voice, the decimation and "taming" of the jungle as puritanical and patriarchal suppression, etc. It's a knotted framework of meaning let down by an underdeveloped love story between Baines and Ada. Formally, it has aged poorly, but its point-of-view is far ahead of its time.
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| 1 |  |
antidood1 | 50 17th |
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The Piano looks wonderful, with expressive colors, sharp contrasts and amazing deep-field shots. And the story starts out interesting enough, so much so that I thought little could ruin this film. Boy, was I wrong; the story devolving into pure nonsense did exactly that. Why exactly does Ada fall in love with a guy who sexually assaults her? And why do these lovebirds have no visible chemistry whatsoever? Are we supposed to be happy now that they're together? Incredible potential, sadly wasted.
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| 1 | msdstc | 55 53rd |
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Nice cinemetography, but not for me.
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| 1 |  |
juntakinte99 | 50 9th |
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Writer-director Jane Campion tries admirably to elevate a '50's melodrama plot via visuals that are comparable to David Lean's Ryan's Daughter. But the artistry (and Anna Paquin's great performance) isn't enough to make a cool picture. The romance is a dud. The indigenous subplot is dated. The symbolism ham-fisted. And multiple parts are so over-the-top they feel like dream sequences. Avoid. Instead watch Terrence Malick's The New World, which has similar themes, but will knock you on your ass.
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| 1 |  |
lisa- | 1 1st |
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period dramas that are only period dramas are never good. this one, in its desperate attempt to be a musical and poetic ode to true love is in fact juvenile and moronic, not to mention the film's example of true love is an adoring embrace of the ideals of docility and domesticity in women. not a better love story than twilight.
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| 1 | michaelm2391 | 35 30th |
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A traitor daughter, a posse of bumbling savages (ha ha, those clownish oafs/props!) and two over-horny rapist fellas function as barely-disguised scaffolding for constant historical overreaches and a relentless indulgence in the shocking revelation that women do, in fact, have sexual fantasies. GOOD THING THERE IS A PIANO METAPHOR
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| 1 | Pratchett3 | 3 5th |
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dude buys this chick's piano and uses it as leverage to get her to have sex with him. pretty gross movie.
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| 1 |  |
NathanBates | 60 34th |
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A haunting movie with an admirable cast. I just find movies without sympathetic characters a bit difficult to enjoy. (Ada lost me when she cut off Flora's skates before the move to NZ.) Reminded me a lot of A Doll's House.
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| 1 | doyler29 | 70 36th |
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I must say I really dislike Keitel in this one, but that's not really what's stopping me from liking it. Sometimes the lack of appeal is a bit ineffable.
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| Average Percentile 62.69% from 2904 Ratings |  |